There were two sides of Janet Jackson that Toronto concert-goers witnessed in August: the innocent, sweet diva, and her sex-driven alter-ego. She contradicted herself by singing ?Let?s Wait a While? and then later inviting a man on stage during ?Would You Mind?, tying him up, and seducing him by crawling all over the lucky fan.

The thirty-five-year-old Jackson made a powerful entrance at the Air Canada Center, and appearing several stories above the concert floor on a small platform. She was sweating even before singing the third song of the night, ?All For You?. Many of her numerous costumes made sure to show off her chiseled-stomach.

Jackson performed a very emotionally driven set, but perhaps the highest emotions came when clips from ?Poetic Justice? featuring the late Tupac Shakur were shown while she sang the hit-song from the movie, ?Again.? This was the same song in which Jackson received the loudest cheers of the night, after pausing before singing the final line. She received a standing ovation, while flowers were thrown on stage from people in the front row and chants of ?Janet? were heard from the more than 14,000 fans in attendance. The song stopped for almost 3 minutes before she continued.

Following ?Again,? the stage was transformed into a super-sized toy box, resembling a scene straight out of a Disney parade, with two massive Jack-in-the-boxes and dancers dressed up as toys or stuffed animals.

She sat down on the steps with her two backup dancers to sing ?That The Way Love Goes,? in a very mellow setting with light-purple lights.

Before singing ?Would You Mind,? she invited a fan from the front row to join her on stage, where her assistants strapped him down to a cross-like figure, almost looking like she was going to crucify him, but instead she showed her different side. She has been criticized for having raunchy lyrics on her current album, ?All For You,? but she must take it in stride, because Jackson was all over the stranger, until they were both lowered below the stage. Up until that point, only the innocent side of Jackson was visible, but she quickly put those memories on hold by replacing them with the updated version of herself.

?I love you, Toronto,? she said before leaving the stage until her encore. She ended the show by singing very upbeat renditions of “Doesn?t Really Matter,” “Someone To Call My Lover,” and “Together Again.”

Hip-hop group 112 opened the show with a seven-song set as the audience filled into their seats. Wearing red, motorcycle attire, they appeared on the stage in front of a backdrop bearing their likeness. The audience as a whole was not into their performance until they performed their new hit, ?Peaches and Cream.? After 112 finished and the stage was being set up for Janet Jackson, Canadian Popstars Sugar Jones walked through the aisles to take their third-row seats. When noticed, they were given an unexpected, loud standing ovation.

Set List
“Come On Get Up”

“You Ain?t Right”

“All For You”

“Love Will Never Do”

“Trust A Try”

“Come Back To Me”

“Let?s Wait A While”

“Again”

“Runaway”

“Miss You Much”

“When I Think Of You”

“Escapade”

“Son Of A Gun”

“Got ?Til It?s Gone”

“That?s The Way Love Goes”

“Lately”

“Control”

“Nasty”

“Allright”

“Would You Mind”

“If”

“Black Cat”

“Rhythm Nation / The Knowledge”

Encore:

“Doesn?t Really Matter”

“Someone To Call My Lover”

“Together Again”






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